Apples
by Ktkat9
Summary: Heracles tries to bring back an old tradition, and Kiku is just plain confused. Throwing apples means what?


Kiku set down his pen and twisted around in his chair, feeling the satisfying pop of his back. He then reached up above his head as far as he could and rolled his neck around to crack the rest of his joints. He knew it was a bad habit, but after three hours of taking notes on everything discussed in this latest meeting, it was well worth it.

The others were packing up their things, talking (read: attempting to send death threats in a tone of voice that Germany wouldn't pick up on), or being woken from their naps. Picking up his pen, Kiku decided to read over his notes while he waited for the meeting hall to empty a bit. Flipping his notebook back to the beginning, he found that he had gathered two new pasta recipes from Italy, sketched America's new superhero four times over on his request, and caught sight of France and England's not so subtle glances at each other. As usual, not much progress had been made, but if there wasn't a full-on declaration of war, that counted as relatively peaceful.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something red coming his way. Reacting on instinct, he leaned back and it bounced off the table right by his notebook. It rolled to a stop and Kiku picked it up. It was a shiny, bright red, apple, only bruised where it had collided with the wooden table.

"What the heck?" Looking in the direction the apple came from, he saw Greece. The man eyed the fruit in his hands, opened his mouth to say something, then blushed and looked away. Before Kiku could question him, he quickly gathered his things (read: cats) and left.

Yyyyy

A few weeks later, Kiku paid a visit to Greece. He had all but forgotten about the incident at the meeting and decided to drop in to see Heracles before he left. The man didn't answer his door when Kiku knocked, but that was hardly a surprise. He was usually sleeping or playing with his cats. Having known his friend for quite some time, the Japanese nation opened the front door and walked in, making sure to announce his arrival.

"Heracles-san, are you home?"

There was no answer outside of a small 'meow'. A fluffy Maine Coon walked up and rubbed against his leg. When Kiku bent down to pet it, it walked away. He followed it out the back door and down a stone path to the orchard where his friend lay under a tree among a sizeable herd of cats. The one Kiku had followed stepped over its brethren to claim a spot on the Greek's legs.

"Hello, Kiku." Heracles lazily waved.

"Hello, Heracles. Do you mind if I sit? I just had a rather long meeting with some of your government officials and would like a quiet break."

"Sit down. The cats don't make much noise."

The smaller man settled onto the grass and leaned against a nearby tree. Sighing and allowing himself to relax, he smiled as a few of the cats turned to him for pets. He ran his fingers through their well-groomed fur and smiled at their happy purring.

"Kiku." He looked up just in time to see an apple roll to a stop by his leg.

He picked it up and spent a second examining it before turning his gaze on the lethargic Greek near him. "Alright. What's going on with you?" Heracles remained silent and refused to look his way. "Why have you been throwing apples at me?"

"I wanted to see about bringing back an old tradition." He lifted a hand and ran it over a chubby orange cat, which rolled over on his back to allow access to his soft underbelly. "It hasn't been going so well."

"If this tradition involves throwing apples at your friends, I can see why it went out of style in the first place." Kiku brushed a piece of grass and some fur off the fruit projectile and bit into it. It had obviously come from one of the trees they were under, and was perfectly crisp and sweet.

"It's a question. Catching it is an answer." He rolled over and refused to say any more. A few minutes later, soft snores joined the contented purrs in the orchard. Kiku just continued to eat his apple, wondering what he had just been asked.

Yyyyy

Kiku grinned as he examined the object in his hand. It was about the size of a peach pit, and made of cool metal. After a search of old Greek traditions, he had found out what the cat and nap loving man had been trying to say.

"What did you want to see me about?" Heracles's slow voice alerted him to the man's approach.

Feeling his lips grow even wider, he turned to face him. "The next time you want to ask me something, make sure I can see it coming." He tossed the object up and Heracles's hands instinctively reached out to grab it. As he realized what it was, Kiku enjoyed the rage of expressions that crossed his face.

"I caught it."

"And that means you're mine." Kiku pulled out a chain and looped the silver apple he had tossed through it before hanging it around Heracles's neck.

Yyyyy

So I don't know how accurate this is, but I read that in ancient Greece, throwing an apple at someone was a marriage proposal. Catching it meant 'yes'. Review if you think these two are as cute as I do. :3


End file.
